i feel pretty….courtesy of erin caitlin

I know I’ve discussed several times how my hair, as a young person, significantly impacted the way I view myself. It made me feel ugly, ugly, ugly. And although I’ve grown and changed and become more accepting, I’ve still always been a little bit ‘iffy’ about having my photo taken.

Which is why I was so intrigued when a photographer friend of mine, Erin Caitlin, posted on her Facebook offering to take photos of women. I *may* have jumped at the chance, and am extraordinarily pleased that I took that jump! Here, I’ve included some of her very beautiful photographs, and some questions and answers about her work that she was kind enough to provide.

Alright, big questions first: why photography?

I started shooting photography when I was 14 years old when I entered a competition in high school; after that it just became natural to me that I had to have a camera in my hand. Listening to stories has also always been one of my favourite things, so with photography it has allowed me to meet a lot of people and not only hear their stories but photograph part of one.

What’s the most interesting location you’ve shot at?

I’m a simple girl who really just loves her hometown and surrounding villages and towns. One of the most interesting for me is going to all to these places and finding something new and interesting about each place I get to shoot at!

What inspires you, photographically or otherwise?

In general what inspires me is when I meet genuine people – they give me hope in this generation. Photographically, what inspires me is using light creatively; how an angle can change an image completely. I also just love the people I photograph and getting to hear their stories and be a part of them.

I’ve noticed that you excel at capturing women in all their beauty, mystery, and strength. Was this something that happened organically, or something you’ve been consciously working towards?

I think I can just really relate to women! We can be complex people – I can’t speak for all of us but I know for myself, if somebody is going to have a camera in their hands photographing me, I’m going to want to feel comfortable with the person, and woman to woman can just alleviate that uncomfortable feeling, as I said though, I can’t speak for all of us but this is what I think.

You made me feel so comfortable during our shoot! I felt like a kick ass goddess. What are your tips and tricks when interacting with clients? Do you feel that any of this carries over to everyday life?

I met one of my favourite photographers, Rodney Smith, in New York back in 2013, and I asked him how his photos look so natural, and he said to me: “Approach your subjects the way you want them to respond.” It definitely carries over to everyday life: being a photographer, you have constant encounters with people everyday, whether it be with a camera in front of you or not; we’re all faced with conversation everyday, and how we approach a conversation will definitely have an effect on its outcome.